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Obese patients willing to use weight loss programs, need resources
A majority of primary care patients who are obese or overweight were willing to participate in comprehensive weight loss programs, but additional resources are needed to help many overcome patient barriers and to understand how to implement said programs effectively, according to data published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.
“Among adults in the United States, there is a combined prevalence of overweight ([BMI] between 25 kg/m2 and 29.9 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) of 69%,” Allison M. Cole, MPH, of the department of family medicine at the University of Washington, in Seattle, and colleagues wrote. “… Based on a large body of evidence from clinical trials, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that primary care providers screen all adult patients for obesity based on BMI and that clinicians offer or refer obese patients to intensive, multicomponent behavioral interventions.”
To study the willingness of primary care patients who are obese or overweight to enroll in weight loss programs, and to identify the characteristics associated with that willingness, the researchers offered a cross-sectional survey to all adult patients who entered 1 of 12 participating practices.
Over a 2-week period in 2013, patients who agreed to take the 14-question survey self-reported health information and their willingness to participate in a weight loss program. Patient characteristics independently associated with willingness were determined through logistic regression. The researchers received a total of 2,832 returned questionnaires. The sample size of eligible participants ranged from 1,362 to 1,439 depending on the variable, due to differences in missing data for each variable.
According to the researchers, 63% of 1,439 reported a willingness to enroll in a comprehensive weight loss program. Common factors patients weighed in making decisions were cost, time of day and location. In bivariate analysis, women were more likely than men to say they would enroll, with 67.3% of women reporting willingness compared to 50.8% of men (P < .001). Willingness was greater in patients with higher BMI: 58.8% of those with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 kg/m2, compared to 71.2% among those with a BMI of 40 kg/m2 or greater. Among those who reported an emotional reason for wanting to lose weight, 73.8% said they were willing to enroll, the researchers said. Among those who wanted to lose weight due to health-related reasons, the rate was 65.5%.
“The majority of respondents reported willingness to participate in a comprehensive weight loss program,” Cole and colleagues said. “Delivering programs in ways that address frequently cited barriers to participation, such as cost and convenience, and tailoring recruitment strategies to individual patient characteristics such as sex, race/ethnicity, and BMI, are an important step in addressing the significant problem of overweight and obesity.” – by Jason Laday
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.